Hand carried luggage in its early stages comprised basically rectangular, hard-surfaced cases into which the clothes of the luggage carrier were folded so as to fit within the confines of the particular piece of luggage. The condition of the garments when unpacked can only be described as wrinkled, requiring pressing to remove the wrinkles. To reduce the wrinkling of garments as a result of being folded and placed in the luggage, luggage was developed which comprised a sheet or panel-like element about which a suit or dress could be folded so as to keep the general form of such garment flat on both sides of such panel. Such hard-surfaced cases did provide protection from external pressure on the garments contained therein. The hard-surfaced cases did prevent any additional creasing of the garments contained therein but also were heavy and by this very nature created weight limits for those travelling by air.
The weight problem was most conducive in the development of luggage of semi-rigid or limp fabric. Whereas the hard-surfaced luggage was shipped in the baggage compartment of aircraft, the fabric luggage offered the opportunity to carry the luggage onto the aircraft and hang it from the facilities provided on the aircraft. Such fabric luggage generally comprised a soft sided luggage which could be folded in half for carrying by the passenger and then could be hung at full length within the aircraft. Such carry-on luggage was ideal for carrying 1 or 2 suits or a few dresses which incidentally required a longer bag. However, if one was taking a trip of long duration vis-a-vis overnight or a few days, there was a need for luggage which could carry the suits/dresses plus all the necessary accessories for multiple day visits or trips. Thus there was developed a luggage which could be carried on the aircraft and yet had a sufficient number of exterior and/or interior compartments to hold the necessary supply of shirts/blouses/socks/undergarments/ shoes/stockings/toiletries/outer coats for rain protection and other personal items.
Such so-developed luggage had a basic structure of a hanging garment bag or the means on one end which could be placed over a hook, rod or even a door. Access to garments was by zippers opening each half of the top of the bag and running down each side of the extended bag. Such structures could provide interior storage on the lower end of the hanging bag for shoes or equivalents. Accessories as discussed previously were held in zippered/snapped/ buttoned pockets on the exterior of the basic structure. For compactness in carrying such a multiple container luggage, the luggage could be folded in half, being provided at the fold line with a handle for grasping and selectively a strap which could be placed over the user's shoulder. The luggage was more or less secured in the folded position reminiscent of a hard side suit case by straps/buckles/hooks/snaps or similarly active means. When the so-described luggage was in the form of the conventional garment bag. there was provided a loop or a hook of appropriate configuration attached to the upper end of the luggage by a chain or cable. When the such described garment bag was in the folded, transport position, the fabric loop was in dependent form subject to snagging any protruding object or the hook and cable/chain was hopefully restrained within the closure of the opposite ends of the garment bag. U.S. Pat. 4,342,479 discloses the provision of elements for holding the hook on hanging element on the exterior of the upper surface of a garment bag. It is to be noted that disclosed element can only be hung on a rod or a hook. Although such arrangement is an improvement over previously known garment bag suspension means, such arrangement is not absolute in preventing the hanging element from being disengaged and subject to subsequent catching on external objects.